RHFay's "Fantasy" Swords
Feb 19, 2008 17:43:19 GMT
Post by rhfay on Feb 19, 2008 17:43:19 GMT
Once upon a time, I actually wrote a fantasy novel. Unfortunately, I didn't get any agents interested in representing my work, and it never got published. Apparently, it was too "D&D" for today's market.
Anyway, I was hugely influenced by historical weapons and warfare as I developed my medieval-style armaments. I described the swords wielded by my various characters as fantasy extrapolations of historical medieval swords, relying heavily on swords found in such works as Oakeshott's Records of the Medieval Sword.
Being an artist as well as a writer, I also composed illustrations of the various blades used by my main characters. Here are my fantasy designs inspired by historical examples (they're not quite to scale):
Armargon, the sword of the kings of Armar, is a magical sword based upon an Oakeshott Tye XII. It has a gilded cross and pommel, and a glowing blue blade:
Mortisbranda, the blade of death, is wielded by a dark wizard who had once been under the control of a demon, but claims to want to aid in the demon's destruction. This one is based upon an Oakeshott Type XIII war sword, with the addition of a dark red gem inset into the pommel, and writhing snakes in silver and niello on the cross:
The Sword of Rurik is carried by the prince of Rurikana, having been his father's treasured sword. It is based upon an Oakeshott Type XIV. It has a pommel made from red jasper (which does have a historical precedent):
And finally, the Sword of Tenure of the Sheriff of Nutenborgen, inspired by the Conyer's Falchion:
These are my kind of fantasy swords.
Cheers!
Anyway, I was hugely influenced by historical weapons and warfare as I developed my medieval-style armaments. I described the swords wielded by my various characters as fantasy extrapolations of historical medieval swords, relying heavily on swords found in such works as Oakeshott's Records of the Medieval Sword.
Being an artist as well as a writer, I also composed illustrations of the various blades used by my main characters. Here are my fantasy designs inspired by historical examples (they're not quite to scale):
Armargon, the sword of the kings of Armar, is a magical sword based upon an Oakeshott Tye XII. It has a gilded cross and pommel, and a glowing blue blade:
Mortisbranda, the blade of death, is wielded by a dark wizard who had once been under the control of a demon, but claims to want to aid in the demon's destruction. This one is based upon an Oakeshott Type XIII war sword, with the addition of a dark red gem inset into the pommel, and writhing snakes in silver and niello on the cross:
The Sword of Rurik is carried by the prince of Rurikana, having been his father's treasured sword. It is based upon an Oakeshott Type XIV. It has a pommel made from red jasper (which does have a historical precedent):
And finally, the Sword of Tenure of the Sheriff of Nutenborgen, inspired by the Conyer's Falchion:
These are my kind of fantasy swords.
Cheers!